MUSIC REVIEW : NOTHING NOBLE ABOUT ‘THE GYPSY BARON’

SAN DIEGO —  A century ago in old Vienna, Johann Strauss Jr. turned out musical confections such as “The Gypsy Baron” to an appreciative middle-brow following. For contemporary audiences, however, staging these operettas, with their predictable vocabulary of romantic happy endings, nobility discovered in peasant attire, and quaint doses of Middle European social satire, has proven daunting to many a major opera company. But the local Pacific Chamber Opera bravely took up the challenge and opened Strauss’ “The Gypsy Baron” Thursday evening at the Lyceum Stage.

It is difficult to resist the temptation to call this production on the main stage below Horton Plaza bargain-basement operetta. A grant from the Parker Foundation helped the company strengthen the caliber of its cast, but the set, costumes and ragtag chorus remain at Pacific Chamber Opera’s customary low-budget level.

Director Gar Hildenbrand’s cast includes a mixture of faces old and new to the company. Among the returnees, Christeene Lindsay again acquitted herself with her unforced, vibrant soprano and sympathetic characterization of the Gypsy girl Saffi that avoided even a hint of caricature. Baritone Joseph Carson portrayed the spunky young suitor, Ottokar, with aplomb, and soprano Janet Lobody as the soubrette Arsena projected well, even if her bright voice sometimes exhibited a brittle edge. In the cameo role of the military recruiter, baritone William Nolan sang with his usual assurance.

Newcomer Dan Hendrick in the title role proved the evening’s major disappointment. With his limp, unassertive stage presence, Hendrick would have been hard-pressed to win the admiration of even a gaggle of Garrison Keillor’s shy Lake Wobegon folk, much less command the respect of the feisty Gypsies who inhabit this would-be baron’s ancestral estate.

While the young tenor’s voice displayed a mannered, Italianate sob, it was not strong enough to support Strauss’ soaring melodies. Alto Blanche Foreman’s Gypsy seer, Czipra, seemed more like Verdi’s Azucena wandering about on the wrong set, while Richard Wright hammed his way through the part of Canero.

In the Lyceum’s shallow pit, conductor Zoltan Rozsnyai and his student orchestra from United States International University barely got through the notes, although the overture and prelude to the second act had some integrity. The Hungarian-born maestro did not always keep his charges soft enough for the singers to be understood, but the chorus compensated with a lusty vocal technique that approached shouting. Rozsnyai, who is principal guest conductor of the Knoxville Symphony, was music director of the San Diego Symphony three directors ago.

Although this production is recommended for only the most intrepid fans of operetta, “The Gypsy Baron” will be repeated tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Lyceum.